Palmetto Electric Trust and Palmetto Electric Cooperative awarded grant money to 12 teachers in Jasper County in the eighth annual Bright Ideas grant program Wednesday. This year, a total of 48 grants will benefit more than 8,000 students in southern Beaufort, Hampton and Jasper counties.

The Cooperative’s Bright Ideas Patrol presented the money where it will be spent — the teachers’ classrooms. Representatives from the Cooperative and the Trust greeted teachers with balloons, gift bags and their checks at each school. Next month, the cooperative will host a luncheon at Palmetto Electric’s Ridgeland facility to honor the teachers and administrators.

The Cooperative invited teachers to submit proposals for innovative classroom projects. Last month, 91 grant applications, totaling more than $82,265 were received.

Jasper County winners include:

• Angela Mason of Hardeeville Elementary School

• LaQuandra Stevenson of Hardeeville Elementary School

• Paula Greab of Hardeeville Elementary School

• Sylvia Cobb of Hardeeville-Ridgeland Middle School

• Euphemia Southall of Hardeeville-Ridgeland Middle School

• Julie Chapman of Royal Live Oaks Charter Academy

• Greg Dixon of Royal Live Oaks Charter Academy

• Tom Hubbard of Royal Live Oaks Charter Academy

• Megan Hales of Beaufort-Jasper ACE

• Steve Shamblen of Beaufort-Jasper ACE

• Karen Creech of Step of Faith Christian Academy

• Linda Stanley of Thomas Heyward Academy.

The Bright Ideas grants are for local school teachers and the grants give teachers money to put innovative classroom projects into action.

Palmetto Electric Trust is supported by funds from Operation Round Up, a program in which the Cooperative’s members round their electric bill up to the nearest whole dollar. Additional funding was provided by Palmetto Electric’s Million Dollar Hole-In-One Shootout and WIRE (Women Involved in Rural Electrification) Chapters.

Palmetto Electric Cooperative, a member of Touchstone Energy, is a not-for-profit, consumer-owned power cooperative providing electricity to more than 66,000 consumers in southern Beaufort, Jasper and Hampton counties.